Conventional boilers used in residential and light commercial heating include boiler tanks, which during normal operation, are filled with a conductive boiler fluid (e.g., water) up to at least some predetermined level. To help ensure that adequate boiler fluid is present in a boiler tank at a given time, the fluid level within the tank is monitored with a low fluid cutoff (LFCO) sensor. To help ensure that the temperature of the boiler fluid does not go above a designated temperature, the temperature is monitored with a temperature sensor.
Conventional temperature sensors can adequately monitor the temperature of a fluid within a boiler tank in most situations. However, the inventors have appreciated that conventional temperature sensors are installed without ensuring the sensor has been properly positioned to accurately measure the temperature of the fluid in the boiler. Temperature sensors can also be inadvertently moved within their wells, which can cause them to erroneously report actual boiler fluid temperature. For example, a person, animal, or even an object falling near a boiler can accidently jostle the boiler and/or temperature sensor, and thereby change the position of the temperature sensor such that the temperature sensor no longer accurately measures the boiler fluid temperature. This accidental mis-positioning can ultimately cause an owner to experience an overheated boiler, which in turn can cause damage to the boiler, damage to the structure housing the boiler (e.g. house or commercial building), and/or harm to individuals that are located near the boiler.
In view of these and other shortcomings with conventional LFCO probes and/or temperature sensors, the inventors have devised improved boiler systems as set forth herein.